Chairman of the Lake County Black Lives Matter Movement, Clyde McLemore, leading at a Black Lives Matter Protest through the courthouse in Waukegan, past city hall, and the coroner's office, on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (Mark Ukena/Lake County News-Sun) (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Lake County News-Sun)

A Lake County judge dismissed a complaint seeking to keep Zion School District 6 board candidate and chairman of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter Clyde McLemore off the ballot, or the votes for him from being counted.

Pointing to the statute's language and a nearly complete lack of this type of case law against candidates, Judge Thomas Schippers said the law pointed to by the State's Attorney's Office in its complaint —that anyone convicted in Illinois of a felony, bribery, perjury or certain other crimes from serving on a school board — applies only to officeholders, not those running for office, even though he said it "seems like a crazy battle right now" because the issue will just come up again if McLemore wins.

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"Common sense-wise, it makes no sense to have to wait [until he's elected]," he said, noting earlier that it's "pretty amazing" that of all the cases of this type filed in more than 100 years in Illinois, he couldn't find a single case that dealt with a candidate and didn't first go through the local electoral board.

One case with an unpublished opinion was identified by attorney Joy Fitzgerald with the State's Attorney's Office.

Schippers suggested that Fitzgerald could file a motion to reconsider, something she said she didn't know if the office will do at this point.

The complaint, which echoed another complaint filed in 2015 when McLemore filed to run as a write-in candidate, pointed to a felony conviction from February 2005 over the unlawful use of movies, according to court records.

McLemore also has a more recent felony conviction in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in a public place after running from police outside the Lake County Courthouse, he said.

Fitzgerald declined to comment on whether the office would file a new complaint if McLemore wins the April 4 election for a two-year spot on the Zion School District 6 board.

If that happens, McLemore's attorney, Matthew Stanton — who unsuccessfully ran against State's Attorney Michael Nerheim in the fall — said he thinks McLemore will be OK. He said the State's Attorney's Office is misapplying the statute because, based on its "forward looking" language, it only applies to elected officials who commit crimes while in office.